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Don Lemon Tonight

President Trump Commutes Roger Stone; Dr. Fauci Says the Country Faces Grim Reality; Goya Foods CEO Under Fire Over His Blessed Statement; Campaign Ads Dominating the Airwaves. Aired 10-11p ET

Aired July 10, 2020 - 22:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[22:00:00]

DON LEMON, CNN HOST: And longtime Trump crony who was days away from reporting to a federal prison in Georgia, convicted of perjury, witness tampering, obstruction. But Stone's crimes were in the service of this president during the course of the Russia investigation.

So, tonight, the president's friend, a felon, seven times over, gets his payback. He just have to wait it out. Roger Stone, like this president, is no victim. They both just like to play one on TV. You know what they say, birds of a feather flock together.

It is all part of a pattern of a kind of Friday night news dumps that we have seen from this administration over and over and over again designed to subvert the rule of law.

We could all see this coming a mile away. The White House continues to use the levers of power and the might of the Justice Department to protect the president and his cronies and punish anybody who speaks out or tries to reign him in. And that's been the story of this presidency and it will continue to be the case for as long as the Trump presidency lasts.

This president continued abuses of power do nothing to distract us from the more than 134,000 dead Americans. They just add more evidence to the heaping pile of reasons that this president is not up to the job of leading the United States of America.

His job right now the one thing he should be working on night and day is saving American lives. It's our breaking news tonight on the coronavirus. This country is seeing a record number of coronavirus cases in a single day. Sixty-three thousand nine hundred. Those cases in Florida, South Carolina, Arizona, Texas and Georgia they are skyrocketing ever since those states reopened.

Georgia adding a record 4,484 new cases. In a week of record cases the president travels to Miami-Dade County. The biggest hot spot in the country to talk about pretty much anything but the virus that has killed more than 134,000 Americans. Incredibly and falsely claiming we're getting back on track.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DONALD TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: In the United States at least before the COVID came to us. The flu. The virus. The China virus. Whatever you'd like to call it. It's got many different names. But before it hit, we were doing really well. We're still very doing well. But now we're getting back on track.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Back on track. And he called it the China virus. Should we start calling it the Trump virus? Since he like to take credit for everything.

The president just insulted your intelligence. More than 134,000 Americans are dead from this virus. That is not back on track. It is -- is it any wonder that the president's poll numbers are tanking? Sixty-seven percent now disapprove of his handling of the virus.

And in the face of all this Dr. Anthony Fauci and the president are no longer speaking. Fauci hasn't briefed the president in two months. And its once frequent TV appearances have been cut back to newspaper interviews, web cast and radio.

Here's what he told the Financial Times today and I quote. "I have a reputation as you probably have figured out of speaking the truth at all times and not sugar-coating things. And that maybe one of the reasons why I haven't been on television very much lately."

So, let's face it. The president who first claimed that his first claim to fame was a reality star is not going to like sharing the spotlight. Especially not with Dr. Fauci. Carefully contradicting him. Remember the president's false and dangerous claim that 99 percent of coronavirus cases are harmless?

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Now we have tested almost 40 million people. By so doing we showcases, 99 percent of which are totally harmless.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Dr. Fauci weighing in on that today. Quote, "I'm trying to figure out where the president got that number. What I think happened is that someone told him the general mortality is about 1 percent. And he interpreted therefore that 99 percent is not a problem, when that's obviously not the case."

That is obvious. You think it would be obvious to the president. And with all this, what is he worried about? Campaign rallies. The president's New Hampshire rally originally -- New Hampshire rally originally set for tomorrow has been postponed. The White House says it's because of storms in the area. But you've to wonder whether the president had something else on his mind. After all he was reportedly upset after his sparsely attended Tulsa rally last month.

[22:04:57]

A rally that Tulsa health officials say in combination with protests likely led to a significant rise in cases in the area. The campaign scrapped a planned Alabama rally over coronavirus concerns.

And Kellyanne Conway seemed to be downplaying crowd expectation claiming Trump voters already support him so they might not want to go to a rally in the middle of a pandemic. The president is still planning to visit wounded service members at Walter Reed medical Center tomorrow. And lo and behold, he says he'll actually wear a mask.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: I expect to be wearing a mask when I go into Walter Reed. You're in a hospital setting. I think it's a very appropriate thing. I have no problem with a mask.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, apparently, he has some problems with a mask since he wasn't wearing one today in Florida. Which I remind you is an epicenter of the pandemic. The president is expected to be photographed in a mask tomorrow. A photo-op some of his aides reportedly pleaded with him to agree to.

Our reporting at CNN is that the president's advisers began conceiving an event where it might make sense for Trump to appear masked. The hospital, well, that fit the bill for that. In other words, they had to set up an event they could the president to wear a mask too. That is honestly sad. And listen to what the president said today in Florida.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. You know, you say that, people say I didn't know that.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes.

TRUMP: But he was a Republican.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: Well, I learned that in grade school. Didn't you? Actually, a lot of people do know that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican. But the president keeps pointing it out as if some kind of -- as if it's some kind of obscure fact. It's not. Most people know that. They were taught in grade school, Mr. President.

You know, he does that kind of thing a lot. And frankly, this president's history with history is questionable.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TRUMP: They want to take down Ulysses S. Grant. Well, he's the one that stopped the confederates. Right? So, you know, he was a great general. Nobody stock went higher than his stock over the last 10 or 15 years. But I think I've done more for the black community than any president.

And let's take a pass on Abraham Lincoln. Because he did good although it's always questionable. You know, in other words, the end result --

Frederick Douglass is an example of somebody who has done an amazing job and is being recognized more and more, I notice.

Our first Republican president Abraham Lincoln. Great president. Most people don't even know he was a Republican. Right? Does anyone know? A lot of people don't know that. We have to build that up a little bit more.

Well, Andrew Jackson had a great history.

Andrew Jackson was a military hero and genius.

I mean, had Andrew Jackson been later you wouldn't have had the Civil War. He saw what was happening with regard to the Civil War. He said there's no reason for this. People don't realize, you know, the Civil War --

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Yes. It was --

TRUMP: If you think about it. Why? People don't ask that question. But why was there the Civil War? Why could -- why could that one not have been worked out.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: He has no idea. I don't think he's ever read a history book. Why could that one not have been worked out? Because the confederacy was fighting for the continued enslavement of African-Americans. That's why it could not have been worked out. So, when the president says he's a student of history, it's sure not Civil War history. Maybe it's not American history.

Straight to our White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins. Now Kaitlan, good evening. Thank you so much for joining. Kaitlan, did the president talk about coronavirus at all during his trip today?

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It came up once and it was only briefly. If you have really looked at what the president did today in his entire schedule you would not have known that there was a pandemic going on. He went down to Florida, attended this drug trafficking briefing. And he said during that briefing that they talked about doing it over the phone. But he wanted to go in person to Miami-Dade County where we noted the positivity rate hit 28 percent today.

Then he went to the Venezuela round table with supporters before going to that campaign fundraiser where he raised about $10 million. But really overall, and then of course the Roger Stone commutation came as he was coming on the flight back to Washington.

But if you really look at what he was doing the fact that he went into where it is one of the nation's worst hot spots on coronavirus right now the president did not acknowledge the fact that what the cases have looked like over the last two weeks. It's not the same message that you were hearing from health officials where the president -- you know, he's been trying to put it behind him. But today he just barely even talked about it.

[22:10:04]

LEMON: President Trump, Kaitlan, was supposed to be at a rally in New Hampshire tomorrow, I should say, but cancelled due to weather. Could concerns about how many people would attend have something to do with that? We know what happened, right, with the rally in Tulsa. And the expectations were so high, and then --

COLLINS: Yes, I think the concern the concerns about the crowd sizes is going to be something. It's always been something that followed campaign officials. But it really is going to be so after the fall out from what happened in Tulsa. And so, I think that definitely played a factor into it.

I'm sure they knew that if it there was bad weather it's not going to encourage a lot of people to come out. But it really is just seeing, you know, how doomed this return to the campaign trail. And what a struggle it's been for the president. After Tulsa they tried to go to Alabama tomorrow and state officials there were worried about having a mass gathering. And then New Hampshire, and of course now there is a tropical storm headed for the east coast. It has really been a struggle for him to get on the campaign trail.

LEMON: Kaitlan, I want to turn now to Roger Stone, OK? Because Roger Stone was days away from reporting to prison but President Trump commuted his sentence. This is part of a pattern that this White House has the moves like this that late on a Friday night. They do many Friday nights. We have sat here and covered stories. We call it the Friday night news dump. Highly controversial decision to either protect or to persecute people who had been involved with this presidency.

COLLINS: Yes. And we've seen him use this power before to pardon allies of his. People that are prominent Republicans. Things of that nature. Roger Stone is probably the closest that it gets to Donald Trump so far though. I mean, he was a member of his campaign for a brief period of time before they parted ways.

They've known each other since the 80s. They are -- they know a lot about each other. And that was something that Roger Stone said, as you know he made pretty clear publicly that he wanted a pardon of for the president to commute his sentence. He kept saying, well, I didn't turn on the president. I didn't turn on the president.

Of course, something that Donald Trump is incredibly sensitive about when it comes to people like Michael Cohen and whatnot. But also, Don, he saw this as an attack on the Mueller investigation overall. Which clearly, we know how he feels about that.

So, I think also by commuting Roger Stone's sentence he saw it as way to undo part of the Mueller investigation. And it wasn't clear always that he was going to commute his sentence or grant him some kind of clemency. Because there were people at the White House who did not want the president to do this. They thought it would cause political damage. They thought it was a bad idea. But then the president was hearing from other people who said they didn't think Roger Stone should spend one night in jail. And clearly the president listened to them.

LEMON: Kaitlan Collins with the breaking news tonight. Kaitlan, thank you very much. Have a great weekend.

COLLINS: Thanks, Don.

LEMON: Our breaking news tonight, this country seeing a record number of newly reported coronavirus cases, 63,900. I'm going to ask Dr. Craig Spencer and Andy Slavitt, the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. What we need to do to save lives and why the president isn't doing it.

[22:15:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Well here's our breaking news tonight. As the coronavirus rages across America the U.S. is seeing a second number of new cases in a single day. A record number of cases in a single day, I should say, 63,900. That is a staggering figure. And the day is not over yet. The death toll topping 134,000 tonight. And President Trump is ignoring those numbers.

I want to bring in now Dr. Craig Spencer, the director of Global Health in E.R. Medicine at New York-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center. And Andy Slavitt. Andy Slavitt is the former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Gentlemen, good evening to both of you. Thank you so much.

Andy, I'm going to start with you. President Trump was in Florida today. One day after they reported the highest number of new deaths in a single day. And the virus is an afterthought for him. Why is he treating this pandemic purely as a political problem that should be diminished or ignored rather than the public health crisis that it is?

ANDY SLAVITT, FORMER ACTING ADMINISTRATOR, CENTERS FOR MEDICARE AND MEDICAID SERVICES: Why does he travel in such a bubble around him that he has absolutely no feel or touch for what's going on in this country? I mean, he's clearly made his political decision that he's going to run on job growth. That he's going to create some v in the economy which is just basically just hiring people back that have lost their jobs during all this.

And the reality is he -- it's too much work for him to fix anything else. To try to fix the global health crisis. So, he is going to decide instead that if he simply says this is over, get back to work. Get back to school. There will be more hiring and he'll be able to run on that. That seems to be pretty specious to me. LEMON: Dr. Spencer, with all indicators on the rise, you say we're in trouble. All across this country. Do you see a cogent strategy from this White House to deal with this?

CRAIG SPENCER, DIRECTOR OF GLOBAL HEALTH IN EMERGENCY MEDICINE, NEW YORK-PRESBYTERIAN/COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER: Look, (Inaudible) from the frontlines what it looks like is an abject failure and the deficiency of leadership.

Look, as we mentioned, we have over three million cases here in the United States. That's over a quarter of all cases globally. We have an increase in almost on a daily basis another record number of cases. We have increasing hospitalizations. All of our indicators are going up. And now, we have an increase in deaths. The number of deaths todays was the highest it's been in the past month.

What I -- what I do think is most important is that the things that we're looking at now, the things that we're complaining about now in the front lines the lack of personal protective equipment, the lack of and testing, the lack of clear public health messaging to the American people are the exact same things that we were complaining about in March and April when we were seeing apocalyptic conditions in hospitals in New York City. Nothing has changed. And we're seeing the impact of that all across the country.

[22:19:57]

LEMON: I know, it seems like we're back at the beginning. Andy, you posted about President Trump's insistence on reopening schools as soon as possible. And you're calling him an anti-child president. Talk to me about that.

SLAVITT: Well, I think his track record so far on kids has been put aside kids in cages, not wanting to renew the children's health insurance program. Listening to the NRA rather than doing anything to prevent gun violence in schools. And then he comes back and says without looking at any data that he wants to put kids back in school. Instead of making those local decisions based upon what's going on with case growth, what's going on with local communities.

Everybody wants kids back in school. I think he thinks this is a perfect wedge issue. And I think his political memo tells him that he's going to get women, suburban women to support him by saying that it's important to have kids in school. But it's important to look at this and say does he have kids and teachers' best interest in mind or is he trying to do something different.

LEMON: Dr. Spencer, I want to have the information, I want to talk to you about what Dr. Fauci said today about the coronavirus symptoms that can be so different from patients to patients.

Here's what he said. He said that he's never seen a virus in which the same pathogen with -- in which the same pathogen with little change had displayed such a different range of symptoms. And he said that something that really troubles him. Is that something that worries you too? SPENCER: Absolutely. What we were seeing at the beginning is the

patient presentations were everything from very mildly symptomatic to people who came in, in full respiratory distress and respiratory failure. Early on, a lot of the cases that we're picking up were not clear. Cough, fever, shortness of breath, but people with abdominal pain or even neonates.

So there has been some difficulty recognizing really the clinical conditions, the clinical severity of this disease. Especially with the fact that we know that somewhere between maybe 15 and 50 percent of cases are asymptomatic. Meaning that people are shedding virus. They can get other sick while they don't have symptoms themselves.

We know that this is disproportionately impacting older patients, people with comorbidities, as well as communities of color, black and Latin communities all across the country. So, it is important to continue wearing a mask. Social distancing. Because not everyone is not going to have those really, really severe cases but we are going to continue to have uncontrolled spread if we don't take this seriously.

LEMON: Andy, you said this may lead to some misunderstanding when it comes to the seriousness of the disease. I mean, it almost sound like he is trying to give some cover to President Trump? What do you think?

SLAVITT: Fauci? That he's trying to give cover to President Trump?

LEMON: Yes.

SLAVITT: Yes. I mean, I think he's writing a fine line as you've reported before. You know, he has -- he feels like he has to tell the public the truth but he knows that, you know, picking a fight with the president wouldn't do him any good. I think he wants to encourage people to make the right decisions. He clearly feels ham strung or at least that's how I read it by the president and his president in this position.

And so, you know, when reporters ask him to straddle trump's comments to what he says, you know, it's really acrobatics. I mean, he cares a lot more about people like Dr. Spencer and people he's taking care of in New York in the frontline. And that's where he focused and he's just simply trying to use his voice I think in an intelligent way to get out there.

LEMON: Andy, Dr. Spencer, thank you both. I appreciate it.

The president's trip to Florida coming as the state deals with surging coronavirus cases. Hospitalizations and deaths. We're going to go live to Florida. That's next.

[22:25:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: The coronavirus skyrocketing in Florida. The state reporting more than 11,000 new cases in a day for the second time. You can see just how quickly the virus is spreading there. Miami-Dade County alone is seeing a positivity rate of 28 percent. Health officials also announcing 93 new deaths today after reporting 120 yesterday. A record for the state.

I want to bring in now north -- North Miami Beach Mayor, Anthony DeFillipo. Mayor de Filippo, thank you. I really appreciate you joining us. This is an incredibly important are these numbers are really quite frightening. The president is in Southern Florida. But he's ignoring the pandemic and spending his time at a private campaign fundraiser. Do you think he's adding to the problem by not really confronting it?

MAYOR ANTHONY DEFILLIPO, NORTH MIAMI BEACH, FLORIDA: Well, Don, listen, it's a pleasure to be on your show this evening and with your viewers.

I think everybody needs to confront this situation. We've been at this already for about five months. And it's definitely serious. It's a killer. And I don't see how anybody could shy away from it and ignore it. So, I don't think it's responsible for anybody to think that they should not be wearing masks or congregating in groups without social distancing.

LEMON: Yes. Well said, mayor. I agree with that. You have tweeted that you disagree with the decision by Miami-Cade County Mayor Carlos Gimenez to close all restaurants except for take-out and delivery. But experts like Dr. Fauci are saying outdoor dining is way safer than indoor dining. Why wouldn't it be smart to close dine in services?

DEFILLIPO: Well, what really disturbed me, Don, is the fact of the way that the Miami-Dade County mayor went about it. And making this abrupt decision without consulting with the 34 mayors in Miami-Dade County and at least giving us a heads up on what he was doing.

And the fact he didn't really produce any justification or facts. And all of us here deserve a say in what's going on. And so, you know, had we had that to make an educated decision and move forward with these closures, I think we all would have felt a lot better.

[22:30:03]

Nevertheless, you know, we all want to see the best for our communities. This is something that really impacts our economy. And local businesses. We just want to make sure we continue to enforce and educate and enforce and make sure people know because right now our economy is taking a tremendous impact. And that's what really concerns me a lot as well as the health and safety of every individuality today.

LEMON: So, you just want communication and you want all the mayors and the cities and municipalities to be consistent with what they're doing? Is that -- is that what you're saying?

DEFILLIPO: Consistency is the correct word. And justification and facts. You know, when decisions are made opinion based and he -- and Mayor Gimenez can't come to us with facts, then that's disturbing. You know, we all want what's right for our community. But we want to be involved, we want to be informed and we want to make sure that we can go to our constitutes -- constituents and say, you know, we have the facts here they are.

LEMON: OK. I just want to -- listen, I just -- Dr. Fauci I read it saying that outdoor dining is way safer than indoor dining. Do you think the mayor may have made this decision on the facts coming from the actual head of the coronavirus task force?

DEFILLIPO: I think it was more of seeing the wave of mayors that were a little disappointed in his actions. But look, everybody has to survive. And I'm happy the mayor took that approach and gave businesses an opportunity to at least have outside dining.

You know, all of these businesses really spent a lot of their money with making sure they put the proper PPE equipment in place. The plexiglass. Social distancing. Everything they needed to do to open up and then here we are a week and a half later closing them down. They have invested money for food. I mean, I feel for them. I care a lot about everybody's health and that comes first and foremost. But I'm happy to see that the businesses at least have a way out to, you know, in the meantime be able to provide services to everybody in our community.

LEMON: OK. So, we have been talking about the facts here. Let's talk more about that. Because you say you think there's more cases because there's more testing. But in the last two weeks, hospitalizations in Miami-Dade are up 74 percent. ICU bed capacity is up 88 percent. Ventilator use has soared by 123 percent. Not to mention the 28 percent positive rate. That's not just more cases that's more spread. Is enforcing the rules going to be enough when the spread is that rampant?

DEFILLIPO: Well, anything we can do to help the, you know, curb this number is going to help. I really think that we opened a little bit too early. I think we should have started testing earlier than what we did. And I think that if we would have done that, we wouldn't be in the position we are right now. But we really can't back pedal at this point. We can only look at moving forward and providing the solutions that are going to work for everybody in our community.

And if it's more testing than more testing it shall be. And if it's enforcement and education then that's what we're going to do. But we need to make sure that everybody --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Mayor --

DEFILLIPO: Yes. Yes?

LEMON: No, no, go on, sorry.

DEFILLIPO: So, we just want everybody to understand that we care. We realize what's going on and we want to continue with testing and educating and enforcing and making sure people understand that the level of what's going on in our hospitals is not going down, it's going up. And that's something we need to all work on together because we need to have those ICU beds open for cases that are coming up as many of the doctors of these hospitals and CEOs have spoken about and I have spoken to.

LEMON: Well, mayor, we wish you the best of luck. Be safe down there. And please come back and update us on the situation. Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

DEFILLIPO: Thank you very much. Thank you.

LEMON: Thank you.

The CEO of Goya Foods praising President Trump. Now his company is facing a boycott. Is these customers -- are these customers are they exercising their freedom of speech or is it an example of so-called cancel culture?

Scott Jennings, Ana Navarro weigh in both next.

[22:35:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: Calls tonight for a boycott of Goya Foods after the company's CEO went to the White House yesterday and publicly praised President Trump.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

BOB UNANUE, PRESIDENT & CEO, GOYA FOODS: We're all truly blessed at the same time to have a leader like President Trump who is a builder. And that's what my grandfather did. He came to this country to build, to grow, and to prosper. And so, we have an incredible builder and we pray, we pray for the leadership, our president, and we pray for our country that we will continue to prosper and to grow.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

LEMON: So, let's discuss now with CNN political commentators Ana Navarro and Scott Jennings. Good evening to both of you. It's good to see you. Ana, so soon after those remarks the hash tag go away -- Goya away, excuse me, began trending on Twitter you have a very strong reaction to what the Goya CEO said. Tell me about it.

ANA NAVARRO, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Look, I believe in freedom of expression. I think the CEO, Unanue, has all the right in the world to express himself, to express his political preferences, to say whatever he wants.

[22:40:04]

But I think his consumers have as much right to also say how they feel about it. And you have to understand to put it in context. Goya is the largest Hispanic food company in America. But it is the largest food company, it has the success it has because of the immigrants that buy those products including -- including the undocumented immigrants in this country that eat those beans and eat those garbanzos and eat those gandulas and eat all of those things. That's why he's successful, that's why he has successful platform.

And so, for him to go praise a president who most Hispanics, not all, not all, but most Hispanics feel have -- has harassed and attacked and demonized the community, it's going to have consequences. Because this is America. And boycotts are a form of expression.

LEMON: Scott, you say this is cancel culture run amuck. Why do you say that?

SCOTT JENNINGS, CNN POLITICAL COMMENTATOR: Well, I mean, it's -- well first of all it's incredibly disappointing. I mean, this is a guy -- I don't know this guy. I never met him. But I read about him. He's appeared with Donald Trump and prayed for the prosperity of our nation. I guess that's a serious offense now.

He's also appeared with the Obamas and on an initiative to put healthy food in Hispanic communities, and he also appeared with Mike Bloomberg to try to get salt out of foods in New York City. This is a guy who whenever people in government have asked him to participate, he has done it. And frankly, I think he's not been a very bombastic person when doing so.

And what's disappointing about all this is for all the discussion and all the talk we have had for the last three and a half years about race and racism and is Donald Trump a racist and so on, and so forth, we are singling out a person because of the color of his skin, his ethnic background who dare get out of the line, who dare straight from the orthodoxy and he is now facing a crush of totalitarianism. A crush of authoritarianism, and yes, a crush of cancel culture.

It's ridiculous. Yes, his consumers have a right to buy whatever they want. He has a right to say whatever he wants. But make no mistake, there are people egging this on not because of anything other than he got out of the line. And I think it's despicable. If you say you're are a Hispanic, you're a Latino and you have to stay in what we say you have to stay in. You're not allowed to have your own thoughts. I can't imagine anything more racist than that. Trying to enforce --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: I haven't heard anybody say that.

JENNINGS: -- uniform political views across an entire race of people.

NAVARRO: I have -- listen, I've got a lot of people --

LEMON: Ana, go ahead.

NAVARRO: -- and a lot of people on my feed, on my Facebook, friends of mine who support Goya. Nobody is saying anybody has got to stick to one dogma or not.

But I'll tell you. What to me is amusing is that people who find who want to cancel culture now and talk about cancel culture and are now against boycotts -- do you remember when Trump supporters were boycotting Starbucks because their cups were not Christmassy enough? Or do you remember when gun people boycotting Dicks because they stopped selling guns?

Or do you remember when Hannity followers were throwing coffee pots on the ground and destroying coffee pots because Keurig pulled the ads? Do you remember when they were boycotting NFL because they were allowing some players to take a knee? So, it's very convenient --

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Nike.

NAVARRO: -- to be against cancel culture when you don't like it. Look, if you believe in freedom of expression, you believe that boycott is a way of expressing yourself, that you can do with your hard-earned money whatever you want. And that that is a choice. It's called capitalism. It's called freedom. It's called democracy. And is equal for all. So, if you're OK with the boycott of Christmas cups and Starbucks, then you know what, let us boycott frijoles however we damn please.

LEMON: Scott, I want you to respond because --

(CROSSTALK)

JENNINGS: No, look, --

LEMON: Hang on.

JENNINGS: People can boycott whatever they want --

LEMON: Scott, I want you to respond but let me get this in.

JENNINGS: Sure. Go ahead.

LEMON: Let me get this in before you respond because they are too thin and I'm going to let you finish. You said that praying for the nation that that wasn't OK and people -- that's not why people are boycotting. And I don't think people are boycotting him because of the color of his skin. They're boycotting him because he seems to be supporting a divisive president. Someone who, you know, saying Mexicans are rapists and so on.

And also, Ana does have a point. Because people were also, they were upset with Nike for supporting Colin Kaepernick. And they were boycotting Nike and burning t-shirts and Nike shoes on the internet. But go on. I'll let you finish.

JENNINGS: Yes. Well, Colin is doing fine. I mean, he's got a deal with Disney. I mean, it looks like he is doing fine to me. The reality is, if a white businessman went to the White House today who owns some random food company and said something Ana wouldn't be worried about it.

[22:44:59]

She's worried about it because he's Hispanic. She said on CNN earlier today that it's a salt in the wound of the Hispanic community. I mean, admit it.

NAVARRO: Yes.

JENNINGS: You're singling him out because he's Hispanic. And I cannot think of anything more divide --

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: No, no, no, no.

JENNINGS: I mean, what are we going to do? Have a separate but equal everything in this country? I think we tried that once before. It didn't go well. You want Republicans to buy from Republicans.

(CROSSTALK)

NAVARRO: Listen, nice try.

JENNINGS: Liberals to buy from liberals. Hispanics have to have an orthodox here you can't buy from certain kinds of people. That is not -- that is the opposite of freedom. And it is the opposite of free expression. And I don't care where people buy their beans. But I do think it's outrageous in a country where we are supposed to all be in this together that the minute somebody sticks their head about the diction line and says something that's out of the orthodoxy of what the mob says, they get it shot off. And it's wrong.

LEMON: Yes.

JENNINGS: And that's the future that the left wants, and it's wrong.

NAVARRO: It's not because he is Hispanic.

(CROSSTALK)

LEMON: Ana, I'm out of time.

NAVARRO: It's because most of his consumers are Hispanics. Let me just say one last thing, though, Don, please. I've seen a lot of people online throwing away Goya products. I am begging, people, I am pleading with them.

Look, do whatever you want. And he can do whatever you want but do not throw away food. There is a lot of food uncertainty. There is a lot of unemployed people. There is a lot of kids not in school not getting their meal. Donate it to a food bank. Donate it to a homeless shelter. Donate it.

LEMON: OK.

NAVARRO: We are not in a position in this country to be throwing away food. And then, you know, let the CEO do what he wants. Let the consumers do what he wants. It's called freedom.

LEMON: Thank you both. I appreciate it. We'll be right back.

JENNINGS: Thank you, Don.

[22:50:00]

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: With just four months to go until election day, President Trump and Joe Biden ramping up their ad campaigns, and the tone of the ads reflects two distinct visions of America's future.

CNN's Tom Foreman explains now.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Never underestimate the power of family or the sacrifices people will make for their children.

TOM FOREMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: The latest Joe Biden campaign commercial is a warm salute to families, caring, commitment. But in the rapidly heating ad wars --

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Joe Biden's failed old liberal ideas would crush our economy just as it's recovering.

FOREMAN: Team Trump is lighting up the flamethrower.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: If you're calling to report a rape, please press one. To report a murder, press two.

FOREMAN: Attacking Biden as soft on crime, unable to revive the now flagging economy. And Biden, he is hitting every weak spot for the incumbent.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: For the last five years, he's brought America down with him, attacking healthcare for patients with preexisting conditions, giving massive tax cuts to billionaires, not working families. Praising white supremacists, stoking racial division.

JOE BIDEN (D), PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATE: What a beautiful history we wrote together.

FOREMAN: Trump's adds sizzle with attacks on Biden's record, saying he is far too ready to embrace trade deals that have and will destroy American jobs.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Losing 300,000 jobs in failed trade war.

FOREMAN: Biden's counterpunch, Trump's record has cost jobs, security and lives, even as Trump denies it.

TRUMP: No, I don't take responsibility at all.

BIDEN: I'll do my job and I will take responsibility. I won't blame others.

FOREMAN: Trump said, say at Biden at 77, just three years older than Trump.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Biden is clearly diminished.

BIDEN: All men and women created by -- you know the -- you know the thing.

FOREMAN: And Biden's ads suggest that is just the kind of talk that hurts everyone as the nation grapples with the pandemic, racial strife and economic hardship.

BIDEN: The country is crying out for leadership. Leadership than can unite us. Leadership that brings us together. That's what the presidency is. The duty to care, to care for all of us.

FOREMAN: The Campaign Media Analysis Group says of more than 22,000 spots run by Trump since July 1st, nearly all were negative. Same group says Biden in the same period has aired no negative ads, even though he frequently contrasts his record with Trump's.

And where are all these ads airing? Trumps are showing up in a broad range of states, including some red ones where he is clearly trying to bolster his base. While Biden's are in fewer places but notably playing in some critical swing states Trump won in 2016.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

FOREMAN: These adds together, the contrast between them is really very stark. Donald Trump's message is clear. He is saying to voters I have done a great job. Reelect me or the sky will fall. And Joe Biden is saying no, go ahead and vote for me, and then look up at the sky. What you will see is a bright new day. Don?

LEMON: Tom, are any of Trump's ads trying to reach those moderate independent voters who he will need to win?

FOREMAN: Just barely, if at all. I mean, he does have few little moments where they talk about the Trump record and say this is great for America, but he is so much on the attack in these ads. Don, this is just one after another, wagon after wagon of red meat being driven up to his supporters and thrown out there and saying look, we're in a giant culture war for the soul of America. You must be with me.

And it speaks to the overall effort we've seen by the campaign, which is to say look, we're not going to make a lot of effort to reach out to the middle. We're going try to stoke up our side so much that we can just turn out enough people over there to make a difference in the final vote.

LEMON: Tom Foreman, I appreciate you and the reporting. Thank you, sir.

[22:54:58] New daily coronavirus cases in the U.S. hitting another record as the Trump administration does another Friday night news dump. This time the president commuting the sentence of Roger Stone. All of our breaking news just ahead.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: This is CNN Tonight. I'm Don Lemon. Eleven p.m. here on the East Coast.

And we have breaking news tonight. As the coronavirus rages across America, the U.S. seeing a record number of new cases in a single day today. Sixty-three thousand nine hundred. That is a staggering figure, and so is this. The death toll topping 134,000 tonight.

At least 29 states seeing a spike in new cases. Ten states see an increase in COVID-related deaths over the past week. And President Trump ignoring all those numbers and taking swipes at Dr. Anthony Fauci.

[23:00:00]

Dr. Fauci, the nation's top epidemiologist, who has been sidelined by the White House, revealing he hasn't personally briefed the president in at least two months.